X12 - being bolt-through - stiffens up the rear end laterally, which makes a discernable difference to confidence steering through rough stuff.

So as much as I'd like to see the market stay with 10mm QR, I reckon it will eventually move to some kind of bolt-through, like the 20mm RS Maxle or the Fox/Shimano 15mm standard for the front. The question is when.

X-12 looks like the most-likely candidate for now. Until Shimano comes out with their version.

If you're thinking about ordering in product I'd go the current standard 10mm QR now and watch what the market does with the 2013 model year.

trailgumby wrote:X12 - being bolt-through - stiffens up the rear end laterally, which makes a discernable difference to confidence steering through rough stuff.

So as much as I'd like to see the market stay with 10mm QR, I reckon it will eventually move to some kind of bolt-through, like the 20mm RS Maxle or the Fox/Shimano 15mm standard for the front. The question is when.

X-12 looks like the most-likely candidate for now. Until Shimano comes out with their version.

If you're thinking about ordering in product I'd go the current standard 10mm QR now and watch what the market does with the 2013 model year.

Its a difficult call, the frame I am looking at importing for the Australian market comes in either standard BB and QR rear, or BB92 and X12 rear.

The 29er wheelset I'm looking at bringing in will work with either. We also have a rigid almost road-looking fork as an option and I think some people might build them up as a high-end flat bar - for this purpose the QR would be preferable.

For mine, I doubt you'd get much stiffness benefit from a bolt up rear axle on a hardtail unless you're talking lightweight steel.I'm still undecided as to the value of the pres fit BB systems, tho' a lot of makers seem to be going that way.

...whatever the road rules, self-preservation is the absolute priority for a cyclist when mixing it with motorised traffic.London Boy 29/12/2011

Ahh, a slightly differnet equation then: BB92 and X12 vs BSA BB and QR? Easily the latter for me as I'm wary of press fit BBs and for a hardtail doing XC or maybe light trail riding a QR would be most adequate.

It also gives you a lot more wheel options. I'm tryingto build a 29er wheelset at the moment and accomodating a DIY build 15mm front through-axle is becoming a PITA. There are quite a few options around, but not as many as you would think and lots of them seem way over priced for what they are. Dealing with a X12 rear ATM would turn me right off.

Jean wrote:Ahh, a slightly differnet equation then: BB92 and X12 vs BSA BB and QR? Easily the latter for me as I'm wary of press fit BBs and for a hardtail doing XC or maybe light trail riding a QR would be most adequate.

It also gives you a lot more wheel options. I'm tryingto build a 29er wheelset at the moment and accomodating a DIY build 15mm front through-axle is becoming a PITA. There are quite a few options around, but not as many as you would think and lots of them seem way over priced for what they are. Dealing with a X12 rear ATM would turn me right off.

You're on the money Jean.

I'm leaning towards the BSA BB and QR option. I'm also feeling that we will probably sell as many if not more of these with the rigid carbon fork as a pretty flash flat-bar and in that scenario the QR would be preferable.

I'm also not keen on press fit from a servicing perspective, special tools required and all that. How is the BB shell going to hold up over time once the BB has been replaced 6 or 10 times?

142x12 through axle rear ends are only useful on bikes that have a pivot located near the rear axle like an FSR/Horst Link, or any number of the faux-bar linkage driven single pivot designs (eg Kona). If you're on a hardtail or a dually with a solid rear triangle (VPP, DW-Link, Maestro) it really doesn't do much. Santa Cruz are releasing all their carbon frames with 142x12 because people are asking for it but their testing showed a stiffness increase as small as 2% on some of their frames. Since no one other than Specialized with their Roval wheels is actually taking advantage of the wider drop outs and making hubs with wider flanges, it really is a useless thing for many bikes.

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